This is going to be Fun!
by KaFae
Summary: The Senshi are in a complete mess and Moon is acting alone mostly. They have only gotten by so far since most of their enemies are complete idiots but now two new foes appeared to spread chaos and trouble. Xellos and Ranma! Read and find out what happens.
1. Xellos appears v2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Sailor Moon, Slayers or Ranma ½. It would be really neat if I did but I don't. Oh well perhaps someday I will write something really cool and fanfic writers will be putting up their own disclaimers like this about something I make.

Anyways...

**Summary**: This is an AU where the girls have been awakened later and the group dynamics are totally different inside the inners. Rei has managed to rest almost total control of the group from Usagi and Usagi has almost no confidence in herself as a result. Also, Rei took Mamoru away and pretty much crushed her during the process. Needless to say things aren't going very good for the girl but one bright point is Pluto quickly befriended her. Also, I'm going to alter and adjust the costumes immensely and fine tune the attitudes of the girls. We are going to be joining them as they work on the Pharaoh 90 and Mistress 9 problems but little do they know that they will get a very big surprise in the form of Xellos being released into the world. Not to mention the chaos that Ranma and company will bring into their lives as well. Xellos is a real villain and unlike the other morons the girls have always faced before them but is he really a villain? You will have to read and find out! As for Ranma he runs into them a year after the failed wedding attempt totally frustrated and annoyed with his life. Will they be able to help each other or will the chaos Ranma creates be too much trouble?

**Important note: **Also, it has been so many years since I watched the shows and my memory is tad weak in areas so I'm going to adjust what happens for two reasons. The first is that I don't remember what exactly happened and the Internet isn't giving me any quick answer. Secondly, I thought several areas were rather dumb even when I was a young girl in the 90s. So, things are going to be really adjusted in many ways and I just please ask for people to keep an open mind here! Also, to all those nifty artists on deviantart I really find it wonderful to be able to find some great pictures for new customs and ideas that are very different from canon, so THANKS! Like Omen-of-SilverWing was a great idea of how I wanted to redo Pluto.

* * *

Xellos opened his eyes and inhaled a deep breath of air. A few coughs later he figured it best not to do that again with all the dust in the air floating around him currently. The last thing he remembered was Zelas telling him to remember his duty and then she had used a massive amount of her power to put him into some sort of protective sleep. He had no idea how much time must have passed but he would get it all worked out soon enough.

Their new project had been a complete success and now Xellos could sustain himself on any strong emotion, not just negative ones. They sought out this new power to finally become complete and remove their last real weakness. There were now able to do as their namesake suggested and challenge the Gods or more accurately the Nightmare Lords but apparently someone or something learned of things too soon and they sought to destroy what Zelas and him had accomplished.

Xellos tried to get an idea of where he was but everything felt off and quite different. It was as if the world's magic flows had all disappeared and the air tasted rather weird and it felt stale and empty. Well, if there was no natural magic flows then how in the heck was he pulled out of his sleep since Zelas has used some rather strong magic and it would take something rather strong to break the seals.

Xellos' eyes opened in surprised as a wave of fire washed across the area just in front of him towards some blond girl in some very odd looking clothes. The fire was composed of some rather strange form of magical energy and it was launched from some odd looking staff wielded by another girl, redhead this time, in another odd set of clothes. Xellos frowned a bit since he could tell there was a lot of magic being wielding by the blond and the redhead with the fire weapon but the source of the energy sure wasn't coming from where it should have been.

He was about to speak when the blond girl who had just dogged the attack yelled out.

"Eudial give it up! I'm not going to ever let you win!"

"We'll see about that Sailor Moon, or should I say Usagi!" Eudial let a happy sneer appear on her face as the meaning behind her words was realized by Sailor Moon. Apparently, such information really upset the blond and Xellos found the terror and worry that was rolling off of her to be quite tasty and the girl named Eudial began to speak again, " Yes I know your name and you can bet that I will have quite a bit of fun pretending to be you once you are dead and buried. The other Senshi aren't going to even know what him them before they are all dead alongside you."

Xellos watched as the blond, named Usagi apparently, got visibly upset and the hate that was rolling off of her as loud thunderclaps was surprisingly strong and directed right at Eudial. Usagi had an interesting magical pattern and it was building up for some sort of attack he was sure. He looked around the room and then noticed the two other girls on the far side of the building they were in. Neither of them was moving but he could tell they were still alive but something had happened to them and their life force was loosing its connection to their bodies. He took a deeper look into their nature and it revealed that the magic inside of them was very similar to Usagi's. However, they were both quite ruffed up and covered in all sort of dust and grim and the one with the short blond hair looked much worse their the one with the long aqua marrine hair. Xellos suspected those two had been fighting Eudial before Usagi had soon up.

The magical engery building inside of Usagi was making Xellos a bit nervous and he quickly decided to take her side for the moment. Eudial's magic left her wide open for all sorts of attacks and while Usagi's wasn't much better he preferred the emotional energy inside of her better. With that in mind he quickly made his way over to Eudial and smirked as he tapped her head with the orb on his staff. A loud scream escaped her mouth and a look of pure horror spread across her face as she disappeared with a flash and a sparkle into the orb on his staff. Xellos smiled to himself and planned to have a very long talk with that one later but right now it appeared that the blond finally noticed him.

"Who the hell are you?!", she asked him with a look of pure surprise plastered on her face.

"I'm Xellos. The trickster priest.", he explained with his typical smile and grin.

"What?"

Her confusion was wonderful and he was very glad to see that her magical power had begun to relax back into its former shape. For some silly reason he found himself rather liking this girl. He just sat there smiling at her with his lidded eyes and after a little while she got the hint that he wasn't going to explain what he just told her any further so she sighed and asked her next question.

"What did you do with Eudial?"

"Well, I thought I would help you out since your other friends weren't having a very good day."

He spoke this as he indicated to the two other girls on the floor behind Usagi with a pointing of his staff. She narrowed her eyes as him and then looked at the two girls laying on the floor and then back at him.

"I wouldn't exactly call them my friends but thanks anyway."

"Of course!"

With that said Xellos teleported to a nearby alcove in the building he was in which appeared to be a shrine or temple of some sort since it had the usual amount of stone work and large columns he associated with such places. However the various scorch marks and cracks across a lot of the stone work gave ample evidence to the power behind the battle that had just taken place. He smiled to himself as he felt Usagi's, or Sailor Moon's, confusion appear again. Now he just needed to get an idea of what was going on and figure out what in the heck was the magic these girls were wielding and where it came from. It wasn't very powerful by his standards but it had a very interesting signature and flavor to it and none of the protections a real mage would be using upon their person, which was very strange indeed. He carefully wrapped himself in cloaking magic and waited to see what would turn up.

He looked over the blond carefully now and examined her appearance. There was some magic that tried to block his ability to see her face but for him it was an easy matter to circumvent the small amount of protection it offered. She had deep blue eyes and had two buns on either side of her head which then had two steamers of long blond hair tailing from them. Rather different in his opinion but her clothes were what really made him wonder what had gone on during his long sleep. She was wearing a silver tiara on her forehead with a large diamond looking crystal that was sclupted into the shape of a rose in the center but his senses told him that crystal contained a large amount of magical energy. On her hands were a pair of white gloves with a thin silver chain circling each wrist. She wore a pair of white sandals that had several small straps criss crossing over her toes and then another set of straps which buckled to secure her ankle to the top of the 3 inch heels present on them but she didn't seem to have any issues moving around wearing them. What really caught his eye was the dress she was wearing. It was sleeveless and had a rather low neckline and flared out into an a-line skirt that stopped just above her knees but it glowed and shimmer with a silver energy that slowly moved along it's white pearlescent surface. All in all she had a very striking appearance and looked more like some form of Royalty than a fighter.

The magics and energies inside of her were quite alien but also very close to raw Mazoku magics but just missing a few components. It was rather surprising to him and he found himself rather enthralled with the silly girl as she ran to the others like her, in the magical essence not in appearance, and began using a form of healing magic on them. Both of the unconscious girls began to stir and Usagi was beginning to yell at them when his sense alerted him to the present of a new magic entering the area which signaled the appearance of another person.

It was a form of temporal magic but incomplete and not entirely correct and he was rather amazed that the person using it wasn't ripped apart from the attempt but instead a new girl appeared at the source of the magic in the building. This one had very long dark green hair that reached down to just past her thighs and she held a long golden colored staff shaped almost like a key of some sort but it gave off the same temporal magic he had just felt. She wore a pair of long gloves that reached up to just below her shoulders and they were a dark gray color and she was wearing a long flowing dress of a burgundy color that had a long slit up to about mid thigh which showed off her very shapely legs quite well. She had a gold tiara on her forehead and she was wearing the almost exact same sandals as Usagi was wearing except hers were a dark black color. She was also sporting a pair of stockings that ran up to the tops of her thighs and matched the color of her gloves. Her dress didn't have the same magic visibly flowing across it but Xellos could tell that there was still plenty of magic in it and he knew that all of her clothes would function almost like a form of magic armor but they were far more pleasing to the eye than the magic armor was he accustomed to seeing in his time.

He frowned to himself and decided that the new person was rather troublesome to have such incomplete and dangerous magic to be running around with and he had a feeling she was rather old, not anywhere close to his age, but old nonetheless and he decided that he was going to have to deal her carefully lest she destroy the world with a stupid mistake.

He was drawn out of his planning as she began to speak and he listened carefully.

* * *

Pluto took a good look around and was very confused with what she saw. She walked over and picked up the two dropped talismans and noticed that Uranus and Neptune were coming around. She knew how this battle should have gone and this wasn't it. After she handed the two talismans to Uranus and Neptune silently very glad that Usagi had figured out how to restore their pure heart crystals. She focused and made sure all of her emotions were under control and spoke.

"Moon what happened here?"

"Eudial used her fire buster to pull the talismans out of Uranus and Neptune before I got here...."

Screw it! With all the mess present to the timeline and the amount of damage and problems present among the Senshi she couldn't hold it in and she let her anger flair out a bit in her reply.

"I know all of that! I mean where is Eudial? Events should not have happened this way. You were supposed to be fighting her still as I reclaimed the talismans and then revived Uranus and Neptune. Also, didn't I tell you to bring the others? I thought we had been over this before about you working alone?"

Pluto spoke all of it in increasing volume that made Moon nervous and feel like her mother was yelling at her. Pluto had befriended her and been trying to help her for a while now but at times Pluto could really make her feel like a little child getting scolded by a parent. Their relationship was a very complicated one at times.

"Well some strange guy appeared and he made Eudial disappear."

Pluto's mind froze for a second. She didn't want to hear that at all. Now she would be spending who knows how long at the Time Gates researching and tracking this new interloper and then she would have to figure out what kind of risk he might represent. Of course, there were the other issues she had to consider, like how in the hell could she have missed him in the first place. Someone who could just take out Eudial with ease should have stuck out like a sore thumb. She rubbed her temples trying to fight off the headache that was approaching like a massive freight train approaches a car stopped on the tracks. She relaxed as best she could since she really didn't want them to noticed the issues she had with this new information.

"Strange guy?", asked Pluto with an arched eyebrow. "Do tell me everything!"

Usagi noticed the flash of frustration move over Pluto even though she had turned her back to them for a moment but to Usagi it was as plain as day. She had always been very good at reading people and Pluto was no exception. She figured that the idiots behind her might not have noticed it but she sure did and she filed it away to talk with Pluto about later.

"Well she had just finished firing off a huge burst of fire towards me when he walked over and tapped her on her head with his staff and she just vanished. She looked rather surprised at it as well."

That response sure confused Pluto. For both Usagi and Eudial to miss him and for him to be able to so easily neutralize Eudial gave her much cause for concern. She was rather worried now but that didn't matter at the moment. She decided to double check her assumptions real quick and spoke again.

"And where did this guy come from?"

"No idea. He was just suddenly here."

Pluto ground her teeth in frustration and spoke in as calm a voice as she could for her next questions. However, she knew Usagi must have already noticed her growing panic and frustration. She tried her best to be a good friend to the girl as well as the teacher she desperately needed but it was times like this that the simple nature Usagi possessed at times would get to her.

"Alright. So, did he say he wanted anything, or offer a name? How about what he looked like? Those types of things would be a bit helpful."

"Yea, you moron", spoke Uranus.

Pluto looked at her and gave the girl a deadly look and she shut-up as quickly as she had spoken but Usagi was already rather pissed off at the girl's outburst. Pluto knew that those two had somehow managed to make the short list of people that Usagi actually felt hate towards. Normally the girl was incapable of actually hating anyone but if someone did a certain set of things then Usagi believed that they had crossed some forbidden line and actually began to hate them. Usagi didn't even hate Rei and her ex-boyfriend Mamoru even though they had horribly broke her heart with what they did. Pluto suspected that it was the willingness of Uranus and Neptune to hurt anyone they needed to accomplish their mission and such things were never allowed in Usagi's mind. Pluto herself thought somewhat the same way as Uranus and Neptune but her time with Usagi had begun to change her and she desperately hoped that she would never end up on that list as well.

"He said his name is Xellos and then he disappeared. I didn't pay much attention to what he looked like except for his purple hair but since those two asses seem to think they can do so much better at everything how about you have them figure it out. I'm out of here!"

Pluto watched as Moon took off running and knew she was probably starting to cry as she ran from the building and back towards her home which she would eventually reach after blowing off some steam in her usual ways. She wondered how in the heck she was going to fix the giant mess the Senshi were in but right now she had to focus on this newest problem. She then turned her eyes back on Uranus and barely contained her anger at the pair of idiots sitting there.

"You know you both should be quite a bit nicer to her. If she hadn't bothered to show up when I asked her too both of you would be dead right now. I'm starting to think dropping both of you off in some separate timeline where horrible monsters would chase you night and day and where you wouldn't have the use of your powers. Perhaps something along those might be able to teach both of you idiots some much needed humility."

Pluto enjoyed seeing the surprise and shock wash across both their faces but it was short lived as Uranus' usually arrogant attitude quickly reappeared.

"Yea whatever. You need us and we are better than any of those other brats so your stuck with us."

Pluto offered them a thin smile as she faded from view and Xellos watched the other two pick themselves up and walk off together arm and arm. He found himself smiling and thinking one thing, 'This is going to be so much fun!'.

**

* * *

Notes: **Okay here is the small start to a project I have been thinking about doing for a while. It will be long and will be a good counterbalance to work on when I not in the mood for my other stories. As you can guess the tone of this story is going to very different than canon and the Senshi are in a total mess right now. As Xellos would say if he was thinking like Tom Cruise, "A target rich environment!".

I had origionally put this under Sailor Moon but later decided it would appeal to the Ranma type crowd more so I have moved it over.

**Update:** Okay, I think I finally have a usuable starting structure to work with here. Sorry it usually takes me a little while to actually get a base framework all laid out correctly. I'm going to post the next chapter soon which will bring in Ranma into the mix and let people know what is going on with him.


	2. New Family and Plans v2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Sailor Moon, Slayers or Ranma ½.

**Notes:** Something else I forgot to mention is that there is no chibi-Usa in this story. Hopefully some of you found the first chapter a bit interesting and if you did please leave a review for it. I usually start slow which I often think is a barrier to my stories for people but at least some people like them. Also, I'm not at all a fan of Ranma/Akane fics and this isn't going to be one at all. I have always considered Akane a spoiled child and have never enjoyed her character and I just can't let Ranma be stuck with her. If you disagree with that please don't continue reading this fic. Also, I know I have a rather strange imagination and writing style so please don't yell and complain at me for it. However, if you see from oops in spelling and or a word is really out of place just PM with the issue so that I can fix them. Issues of style are most likely going to not address but you can tell me your ideas and I just might agree with some of them. Also, I'm open to people sending in ideas for themes and sub plots to be added to the story. Now lets get back to the story.

One more thing before we get going here. In this AU I'm not going to have the Witches 5 as perfect diamon hosts. Instead, I'm going for something closer to the Anime but I'm going to have them actually be humans who had agreed to help bring Pharaoh 90 to earth in exchange for power and immortality, yeah that usual deal.

One last thing. Please leave a review and let know if you find this interesting, good, horrible, stupid or whatever.

**Update:** I went back into this chapter and added detail in places since people want some more detail. I also fixed up as much of the grammar issues, sure missed a bunch in the three passes I gave it so I really hoped they are all gone now. I really am upset that I missed so many in the first posting as I'm usually not that bad. If you still see some or some misspelling that made it through the spell check please let me know where they are and I will fix them. Thanks.

* * *

Xellos felt the girl named Usagi running away and he could tell that she was greatly upset with these other two still here. It only took him a little bit of time to memorize her signature so that he could track her as he planned to talk with her later but right now he was hungry. Based on the group dynamics and the amount of power these two had Xellos quickly concluded they were of little concern to him at the moment but since his reserves were so low he needed to get some more energy so he decided to follow them outside still concealed by his cloaking magic.

Both Uranus and Neptune reverted back to their normal forms and Xellos took note of how it altered their access to their magics which was a really odd thing to do in his mind since it didn't really make much sense to him at the moment. The blond one named Uranus was now wearing some very masculine looking clothes and the blue haired one named Neptune was now wearing a very elegant light blue evening dress and they were heading over some metal object which Xellos believed to be to be some form of transportation device. The blond suddenly spotted something and quickly ran over and knelled down to look at the fine line etched across the side of the metal transporter and the hate and anger rolling off of her was making for an excellent meal. Neptune quickly took note of her partners distress and inquired as to the nature of the problem.

"Haruka what's the matter?"

"That little bitch keyed my car as she ran out of here. I swear when I see her again I'm going to beat her to within an inch of her life."

"It could have been someone else or it....."

Michiru stopped speaking when Haruka leveled a deathly glare at her. She sighed knowing that reasoning with her was going to be pointless for a while and it would take a few days for her to cool off before she might even be willing to possibly consider another alternative to what happened to the car. While Michiru didn't really like the other scouts much she had to give Usagi some credit since she did save their lives today and she doubted that the girl would really have it in her to key Haruka's most prized possession, besides Michiru herself.

"Lets just head home since it has been a really long day, alright?"

Haruka let out a gruffly mumbled response but got into the car with Michiru and began to start the car.

Xellos paid very close attention to how it appeared the car, as he come to know what it was called, worked. As Haruka began to bring it to life he realized that it used a flammable liquid to generate energy so Xellos used a bit of magic to prevent the car from being able to ignite the liquid.

After the fifth try and getting nothing Haruka was about ready to scream and was seething with pent up rage and anger over the events of the day. She had tried about everything she could think of to get the car to start and had now finally given up and pulled the latch to release the hood so that she could take a look at what was going on. As she got out she motioned for Michiru to slide into the drivers seat so that Michiru could try starting it when she signaled.

As she got under the hook and began looking around with the flashlight Xellos was enjoying the immense frustration and anger coming from her like waves in an angry storm. Michiru seemed much more calm but Xellos figured that what he had planned next would get even her riled up. He was just waiting patiently for Haruka to signal for her to try starting the vehicle again and it wasn't long before she did so. This time Xellos altered the magic so that everything would burn and he truly intended for it all to burn away.

Haruka just signaled for Michiru to try starting the car now hoping that she would be able to see something wrong however it appeared to start right up and was about ready to shut the hood and call it an end to a very stressful day when she saw that the engine block was glowing red and soon starting to spark and burn away. She began screaming and quickly ran over to Michiru and yanked her out of the car as the fire quickly spread quickly consuming every part of the car. Haruka noticed that Michiru was just as shaken as she was. When they looked back at the fire and smoke created by the burning car they noticed a man standing in the shadows with a massive grin on his face and lidded eyes holding a staff topped with a red orb. He gave them a small wave and disappeared and Haruka had only one thought running through her head at that moment, 'When I find him I'm going to slowly torture him to death!'

* * *

As soon as Pluto was back in her realm she marched herself over to the front of the Time Gates and with a little mental direction sat down in the super comfortable chair that had just appeared behind her and grabbed the bucket of snacks sitting next to the chair. She now turned her attention back to the Time Gates with an intense focus for what she was about to do. Very few people could look at something from every possible vantage point and angle and find the one thing that could cause immense changes to the course of history but Pluto could.

She directed the Time Gates to display what happened during the battle between Usagi and Eudial and then had it show everything from Usagi's point of view. The Time Gates quickly locked on to the requested time and began displaying the events that occurred as if watching a very large TV complete with sound. Everything was going exactly as she expected but just after Usagi yelled at Eudial to give up a new person appeared in the time-stream. He just appeared and she went back and forth over the moment when he was there and when he wasn't trying to spot anything that might give her some clue as to how he appeared in the timestream but couldn't find anything.

She decided to give up on attacking the problem that way and instead told the Time Gates to lock onto to this new person. Once they had a lock she directed them to move back in time but to keep everything centered on this new person but he suddenly disappeared. She was about to query the Time Gates to explain what happened when an error message appeared.

**** ERROR ** LOCK LOST: UNABLE TO DETERMINE REASON**

With a small spring of panic developing in her mind she prayed that it was only a small glitch since the Time Gates had never given her an error like that before but she had several other things she could check out. She moved forward in time again and reestablished a lock on this person of interest, as she often called them when researching them, and directed the Time Gates to find out when he was born and center the view on him at that point in time.

** **ERROR ** IMPOSSIBLE QUERY: PERSON CANNOT BE SCANNED TO DETERMINE ORIGIN**

She felt her jaw fall open as she read the new error message. She stood up and wanted to scream out as loud as she could that such a thing was absolutely impossible but as she stood there confused and very worried as an intense feeling of dread began to creep into her mind as she remembered something that she had asked the designers of the Time Gates about a long time ago. They had told her that only two things could prevent the Time Gates from tracking someones past and neither of them were believed to be possible but they still added the routines to the programming anyways to prevent a system crash.

She thought long and hard trying to remembered what it was they had told her but it was just so long ago that it was only a small whisper in her mind anymore and she soon gave up in frustration speaking out for the enlightenment of the void around her, a habit she had picked up a few thousand years ago since it tended to help ease the feelings of total isolation.

"Screw it! I will just have the Gates show it to me."

She sat back down and directed the Time Gates to look into her past and soon she found the section of history she needed to see. It was rather funny seeing herself when she was about 16 and still in training for the unimaginable task she was being assigned but unlike the other princesses she was taking her training very seriously and even spent a large amount of time with the designers and programmers of the Time Gates which stirred up old memories but it was all in the past of a long forgotten time that no one else could really remember. She drew herself out of her nostalgia and directed the Time Gates to play back those events for her to watch again.

"Maxwell is there any condition where the Time Gates would be unable to track someone through time and where it would prevent me from seeing their past?"

"Of course not princess. The Time Gates will be able to see all events no matter how far back in time they reside."

The younger princess Pluto turned to look at Sakura who had just cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Maxwell, that isn't entirely true. There are only two theoretical possibilities where that could occur."

"That may be true Sakura but do we really need to give the princess such useless information?"

The younger princess Pluto bristled at the comment from Maxwell and quickly yelled out.

"I don't care how useless it may seem! I want you to tell me everything you know because we might have just missed something during the creation of the Time Gates and I don't want to fumble about later in the future in frustration trying to think of what we could have possibly missed when things don't go as we had hoped. Now, please tell me what those conditions are Sakura."

Maxwell's face was rather red due to his embarrassment at being reprimanded by a 16 year old girl who was about 192 years his junior but Sakura seemed to have a small smile on her face and Pluto remembered that she was always a careful person and was very happy that Pluto had taken such an active role in her training for the operation of the Time Gates, unlike the other three candidates.

"The only way such an event could occur is if the person you are trying to track is more eternal than the Time Gates themselves or is a God."

The younger princess Pluto placed her chin on her folded hands that were resting on the desk in front of her and furrowed her brow in concentration but the images stopped moving as Pluto didn't need to watch any more. She always hated having to look through her own past because it made her feel very sad and alone but there were times like this where it simply had to be done.

She considered the two possibilities and found either of them to be immensely difficult to swallow or take seriously and she didn't like what those implications might mean in relation to Xellos. In a quick fit of panic she asked the Time Gates to show her the most likely future that would occur in 1000 years from now hoping with all of her being that things hadn't gotten even more screwed up.

**** ERROR ** POINT OF INFINITY REACHED – NO FUTURE EXISTS AT THE SELECTED TIME**

She couldn't stop herself and this point and jumped up out of her chair scattering the bowl of snacks all across the void and screamed out to everything surrounding her.

"THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE!"

She quickly began moving back in time trying to find where the future simply stopped existing and after a while came to the horrible conclusion that anything beyond a minute or two into the future from the present would cause the Time Gates to display that horrible message. Something was wrong, very wrong and she concluded it had to deal with the new interloper.

She stopped what she was doing and told the Time Gates to lock onto him in the present and show her where he was.

**** ERROR ** NO SUCH PERSON EXISTS – IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TRACK A NON EXISTENT PERSON**

She screamed out several profanities in several languages, some long forgotten, and felt hot tears running down her face. One thought running through her mind over and over again right now was, 'This can't be happening. What am I going to do? What can I possibly do?'

After a few minutes and once she had composed herself she told the Time Gates to lock onto Usagi and she watched the girl making her way along the streets of Japan and was planning to teleport next to her and stick with her at all times until this mess was sorted out but just before she was about to teleport she noticed someone near the princess and she felt her blood run cold and teleported right then not caring if she ended up in a garbage can due to the poorly planned teleport.

* * *

Xellos found himself rather impressed by his own little prank and the meal those two girls had given him was just wonderful. While he could now easily sustain himself on any and all emotions and instead could have made them immensely happy and/or cheery, which would have worked just the same as what he did, he had decided not to do so because 'Where would the fun be in that?'.

He had teleported himself to where Usagi was and watched her slowly make her way back home, at least that is where he suspected she was heading. He had not recognized her at first because her clothes had changed and she was now wearing a white short sleeved blouse and jeans but was still wearing very similar looking sandals with about a 3.5" heel which helped her appear more mature and authoritative since she wasn't very tall otherwise, maybe 5' 4", and he wondered if she always tried to gain some extra hight by wearing shoes of that type. He suspected that her other clothes were part of her disguise magic but it confused him a quite a bit as to why these girls went through all the trouble but unlike the others he could tell that Usagi still had access to a lot of her magic power. Obviously, the world had changed greatly since his time as most mages during his time would have wanted their deeds known to everyone. He pondered these thoughts as he watched her make a stop at a book store of some sort while he waited outside where Usagi wouldn't notice him.

He carefully probed her with his senses and learned a great deal about her but he still couldn't answer the question of why her magic was the way it was. Her magic appeared to very strong and highly concentrated inside the gem that was in the tiara she had been wearing and which now appeared to be inside of her somehow but it also left much of her open. Her soul wasn't well anchored and like Eudial it wouldn't take much for someone like him to easily bond her to them and then be able to control her in any way they desired. Also, her sadness for some reason bothered him and he was unable to enjoy the energy he was getting from her emotions and he decided that he needed to talk with her and perhaps she would be willing to explain more about where he was. After all she did owe him one for helping her out in that fight of hers.

He was just about to walk in and begin talking to her when a loud crash followed by several loud exclamations was heard off to the side of entrance to the store. He looked to where all the commotion had come from and recognized the time magic and soon spotted the same girl he had seen before now picking herself up off ground. Something was off about her and he decided it would be better to have a long talk with Usagi later so he teleported himself to another area of interest that was rather close by, a small chaos nexus he had been feeling since he got outside of the temple.

* * *

Pluto, or Setsuna as her non-sailor identity was known, picked herself up off the ground trying to look as dignified as possible but failing in the process. There just wasn't a way to collide with several trashcans and still look in control and professional. Well, she would worry about the blow to her ego later as right now she needed to get Usagi out of here.

She entered the store and soon found Usagi in the back far away from the counter reading through the latest manga releases, a practice she still did even thought she was now 19. Setsuna had tried many times to teach Usagi better self discipline and control and for the most part Usagi had made remarkable improvements but when she got upset and bothered with things, like she was right now, she would revert back to her old habits.

She shook her head a bit and walked over and tapped Usagi on the shoulder earning a startled jump and a slight blush as Usagi closed the manga she had been reading and put it back where she got it from.

"Setsuna what are you doing here?"

"No time for that, just come with me."

Setsuna reached out and grabbed Usagi's hand and dragged her outside over to the alley by the store with Usagi asking for Setsuna to explain what was going on the whole way. Once she was sure that no one was around she pulled Usagi close and then teleported them both to the Time Gates.

Once Usagi had her bearings and no longer felt like she was going to puke out her guts she planted her feet and spun on her heels to look Setsuna directly in the eyes, very glad that she happened to be wearing a pair of her higher heels at the moment since Setsuna was rather hard to intimidate, not to mention much taller at 5' 8", and she needed every advantage she could get when arguing with her. She focused everything she had into the look she directed at her somewhat mysterious and very confusing friend and was rewarded with a slight blush.

"Now explain what was so important to interrupt me and drag me out of there like some ten year old little girl."

"I don't think anyone would ever mistake you for being ten years old with the clothes you are wearing and how graceful you have become."

Usagi blushed a bit and had to admit that she was really grateful that Setsuna had taught her how to walk in high heels and then make her wear them everyday for the past year and half and while it may have sucked for the first few months it did wonders to help correct her clumsiness and while she wasn't perfect she was getting better every month but none that mattered right now. She let out a sigh and fiddled with one of her ears as she relaxed a bit.

"Thanks for the compliment but can we please get back to what is so important that you felt you had to drag me out of the store before I got a chance to pick out a few things. You know it takes me a bit to unwind and let my feelings go when people like Uranus are complete jackasses to me."

"It has to do with that guy that helped you out …"

"Xellos."

"Right, Xellos. Well as far as the Time Gates are concerned he doesn't exist."

Usagi thought about it for a few minutes but these things weren't ever her strong suit and she soon let out another long sigh and shifted the weight on her legs wondering just what mess she was getting dragged into now.

"Now don't go nuts on me, but I don't get it."

Setsuna sucked in a long breath and explained the whole mess to Usagi. While many people often thought of her as a simple minded person she knew that Usagi was far more intelligent than she let on and if it was important then she would put her brilliant hidden talents to use to help solve the problem. It was a real shame that she didn't always show that side of her but Setsuna believed that over time it would work its way to the surface more and eventually stay there for everyone to see.

"Wow! That is just crazy. So, we need to talk with Xellos for sure."

Setsuna just about fell over from the shock of Usagi's statement and took all her previous thoughts back. How could Usagi say such a thing? This person was far too dangerous and the best course of action would be to somehow eliminate him from the timeline and then clean up the mess. Interacting with Xellos could cause unimaginable problems.

"How can you say that! He is a threat unlike any other we could ever faced. We need to stop everything else we are doing and focus on eliminating him."

Usagi's face firmed up and Setsuna knew that look and knew that Usagi had made up her mind and arguing with her was going to result in a large amount of frustration on her part so she resigned herself to dealing with what Usagi had decided. Hopefully, the damage wouldn't be too bad but at times Usagi had one heck of a stubborn streak.

"Absolutely not!"

"Why?"

"Setsuna, didn't you tell me that the Time Gates were the most powerful thing ever built by the Silver Millennium and that their power actually exceeds that of the Ginzuishou in some cases?"

"Yes. So what does that prove?"

"If Xellos is beyond the power of the Time Gates we don't really have a chance in hell of attacking him and if he has time magic as well then any attack we might launch is going to be an exercise in complete stupidity. Our best hope is to talk with him and see if perhaps we can sort out what is going on."

Setsuna stared at Usagi feeling like she was currently having one of those dreams where she was attending one of the Queen's balls wearing only her underwear. She shivered thinking about the Queen's look of horror and disappointment in her and all the stares of the Senshi and returned back to the present.

Usagi's talents had made a far stronger appearance this time around than she had expected and while she had panicked Usagi had looked at the situation more carefully and reached a conclusion that left Setsuna feeling rather stupid now that she considered it. Two things Setsuna hated more than anything were feeling powerless and/or feeling stupid.

"Alright. So, what do we do since it is going to be just the two of us?"

"First, I want you to move in with me at my apartment and then not bother coming back here since you can monitor the Time Gates remotely and I want you in the real world with me as much as possible. We still have to deal with the Witches 5 and I'm hoping that Xellos is going to get involved and then we can see where he stands."

"But..."

"No buts! Also, I have long had a feeling that something was going to finally break between the other Senshi and us and I'm hoping this is it. I don't know if I can ever really forgive Mamoru or Rei but we have to solve those issues and now may finally be the time."

Setsuna just shook her head feeling both very happy that Usagi was acting like the queen she would become but also very said because it reminded her of what she had lost so long ago. It was a real shame that Rei and the others didn't see this part of her sooner before they kicked her out believing that there was no way a clumsy and stupid girl could be the princess they were all sworn to protect and every time she had tried to talk to them about it none of them wanted to listen to her. It also really didn't help that they believed that she was somehow scheming something since she was an outer and she really wanted to know what in the heck was wrong with Artemis to tell them stuff about how the outers were considered little more than traitors during the fall of the Silver Millennium. The mess those idiots had created for Setsuna was mind boggling and if it hadn't been for a freak set of events that had prevented her from acting when all of these issues had just begun to form none of these problems would even exist right now. Oh well, changing the past was forbidden and very close to impossible but she believed that Usagi would be able to fix it all somehow.

"Alright."

"Good. Also, I mean it that you are not to come back here unless it is an absolute emergency and I expect you to take me with you. Don't make me use the Ginzuishou on you to make you honor this order, alright?"

Setsuna flinched at the last part. When Usagi got serious there was no stopping her and Setsuna's habit of doing things on her own didn't sit very well with Usagi but several thousand years all to one's self had a tendency to do things to a person and the last time Usagi had used the Ginzuishou on her had been a week of total hell since Usagi had cut her totally off from all of her powers but Usagi had earned a great deal of respect from Setsuna in return because she then knew that Usagi was capable of acting in ways that might make people mad at her even when the decision was the correct one.

"I understand."

"Wonderful."

Usagi relaxed and she really hated having to do that to Setsuna but with something this serious she couldn't have her doing things on her own. Setsuna had become a wonderful friend and someone she really needed but the risks were too high and she didn't believe that Setsuna wouldn't do something on her own if she truly believed it to be the right choice but in this case Usagi couldn't let her make those decisions. Usagi could tell by the look on Setsuna's face that she understood the reasons behind her decisions on this one.

One thing that had continued to totally frustrate Usagi is why she was able to show Setsuna, or Pluto, such an iron will but was unable to do it with any of the other Senshi. They always intimated her and even the two new ones, Neptune and Uranus, had concluded she was nothing more than a spoiled child who shouldn't even be part of them and for some stupid reason Usagi let them all walk all over her. She just couldn't bring herself to actually using the Ginzuishou against them. Usagi really hoped that perhaps the appearance of Xellos would be part of a catalyst that would allow her to finally fix the mess that the Senshi were in right now.

* * *

Xellos surveyed the area around him from the top of the building he had teleported to. This new time and place was certainly different but in a lot of ways this city didn't look that much different from Saillune except it didn't smell as bad since there weren't nearly as many fires and lamps needed to light up everything. Instead it was all powered by flows of magnetic energy and Xellos had to admit to himself that he was rather impressed that humans had figured out to accomplish such things without magic in this time.

He had a lot of things he needed to do. The first thing he had to do was figure out what had happened to the natural flows of magic that usually flowed across the land. In that same vein the issues of why no Mazoku energy was to be found really troubled him. To be able to use the black magics Mazoku energies were a requirement but this new world was completely void of such energy, aside from him.

The second most important thing he needed to get started on was establishing a dominion, or base, to act as a store for his magics. Much like how Zelas Metallium had Wolf Pack Island as her dominion to operate from he needed something similar. However, he didn't want to actually have a physical location as it would make things far too easy for those that were going to oppose him to attack. No, it was much better to establish such stores in people and "gifts" scattered everywhere since it would be so much harder to attack.

With that resolved he decided to start looking for the first of his priests, mages, sorcerers, and warriors that would serve him. He really hoped that the chaos in this area was housed inside the people and not the lands because that energy would be a wonderful asset to have on his side. From his position he could see the strands of chaos energy spread all across this area but it seemed to focused in one major area which is where he would head out to tomorrow.

Since he didn't need much sleep, if any, at all he figured it would be the perfect time to have a nice chat with the woman he captured earlier and to start to learn about the other players active in this world.

* * *

Eudial let out a small scream as she suddenly found herself laying on her side on a cold rooftop. The last thing she remembered was letting out a horrific scream as she felt very soul getting sucked away into something. She vaguely remembered some oddly dressed man but wasn't sure. She knew it was sometime later but she didn't have any idea of just how long that "later" really was.

She tried to reach her hands up to her temples to massage her aching head when she quickly discovered two things. First, was that her hands were restrained behind her back by some sort of rope that was very slippery and allowed her to twist her wrists every which direction but didn't allow her to slip her wrists free and secondly that she was totally naked aside from the rope that was also present around her ankles.

She began to trash about wildly and tried to slip her hands over her butt but apparently another strand of rope she didn't notice went around her waist and connected to her wrists preventing her from gaining any more freedom than she currently had. After settling down a bit and taking several deep breaths she decided to try something different and tried to call upon the powers that had been bestowed upon her when she joined the Witches 5 but found herself unable to draw in the power. The connections where still there but she couldn't get access to any of her powers. A cold fear settled upon her very soul and she felt herself starting to sweat even though it was rather chilly but somehow she contained the panic threatening to overtake her and let out a long shuttering breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

"You done panicking now?"

She let out another shriek and turned and looked at who had spoken. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she realized that it was the same man as before who had captured her somehow. Why she didn't notice him before baffled her but he obviously was immensely powerful to be able to capture her with such ease. She relaxed herself and decided that she would just play along with him until he made a mistake and she could escape or kill him.

"Yes. I'm quite alright now. So what is it you want from me?"

"I would like you to explain what it was that you were doing back at the temple. Oh, it would also be handy if you could tell me everything about yourself and who you are working with."

She got a really weird feeling from this man. His clothes were very strange and he kept his eyes closed for all that she could see and it felt like he was in a rather good mood, like all of this and her current situation was some big game to him. However, underneath all of that she was afraid of what had to hiding behind the cool facade but she wasn't scared enough to just tell some random idiot everything the Witches 5 were doing. She decided to tell him a nice story mixed with some truth and see how well it went.

"I was battling the evil Sailor Moon. You see she had killed my brother and sister in another fight about a year ago while fighting some other monsters and had told me that it was just the cost of saving everyone else. How can she say she is the solider of love and justice if she is willing to sacrifice people during her battles? Right after that I swore that I would get revenge but I quickly learned that her magic was far too powerful for me to overcome alone so I enlisted the help of some darker forces. While it may not have been the best idea, their powers allowed me to fight her head on and I would have won this time and finally extracted my revenge if you hadn't stopped me. So, you see you were actually helping the forces of evil when you stopped me."

He began to laugh very hard at her tale and she found herself rather annoyed. She had always been an excellent story teller and liar and no one ever figured it out so why was he laughing. Surely, she couldn't have been so far out of it that she made several huge mistakes in her little tale.

"Let me ask you this Eudial, what makes you think I care if the forces of good loose?"

His response brought her up short. She had assumed that he had to be another one of those justice loving freaks like Sailor Moon and had told him a tale to cast doubt on Sailor Moon's character but he just laughed it off.

"So, you're a bad guy then? That would sure make sense with how you have me all undressed and tied up right now?"

He laughed again and she was starting to get rather annoyed at him and she really hoped he screwed up soon so she could get her Firebuster Mk. II back and then fry him.

"I'm on nobody's side but my own. I don't care if the good guys or the bad guys win. Now how about you tell me the truth this time and then I won't have to slowly skin you alive."

He had said that last part with his eyes open and she shivered and not from the cold. She knew that he would absolutely do what he said and much worst if she didn't answer him. For some reason she could tell that he could see the taint that was hidden in soul that came from swearing her loyalty to Mistress 9 and Pharaoh 90. So, she talked about all of it. She explained what the death busters were after how they wanted to bring a being known as Pharaoh 90 to the world so that he could bring about the silence and end everything while giving the witches 5 immortality and the power of gods. She explained who the Senshi were and how they seemed to always get in the way and corrupt their most thought out plans. She even talked about her childhood and how several events combined lead up to her digging into the darker arts and finally meeting another person who let her to the group that would later become the Witches 5. Basically she poured her heart out him and by the end she was crying her eyes out.

She didn't expect any kindness from him and was rather surprised when he took off his cape and draped it over her shoulders and used his hands to wipe away her tears.

"You foolish idiot. A being like Pharaoh 90 would never grant you such a request. All he does is feed on the energy he extracts from a world and moves on. He would only keep a few key servants and the one he has for this world, Mistress 9, is the only one that will survive. He is the type of being who wants every last drop of energy he can extract from a place and is unwilling to give up any part of that. So aside from who he sent here to coordinate his arrival everyone else is doomed, including you."

"But..."

"You know what I have told you is the truth."

She hung her head and realized that his words were most assuredly true. She had even begun to suspect it herself but she was too far gone with the Death Busters and so she kept on working towards their goal even thought she knew something was terribly wrong.

"So now what? Are you going to drop me off in Sailor Moon's lap as a present or something?"

"I have my own goals and I need people so I'm going to offer you a job. If you give me everything that you are I will break the hold the Death Busters have on you and remove their taint and give you a new chance at life; however, my hold over you in exchange for this will be absolute."

She didn't know what to make of this offer at all. Right now she was naked and tied up and didn't see just how much more absolute his hold could get unless he was talking about her very soul. It suddenly dawned on her how right her thoughts were but for some reason she wasn't terribly scared. She knew that the other witches had been growing increasing upset with her failures and that it was only a matter of time before she was killed by them and if they succeeded in bring Pharaoh 90 here then it didn't really matter as she was still dead. However, she still wanted to know a few more things.

"What will I be doing for you then? Also, how can you break the hold the Death Busters have on me?"

"I need a person who is familiar with this time to research and look into several puzzles for me. The hold the Death Busters have on you isn't complete and is poorly done."

"Puzzles huh. What is it that you are after? What is the long term objective?"

"Well it is..."

"It is..."

"It is a secret!"

She groaned loudly and would have tried to hit him if she could use her hands but she knew that this was the best offer she could hope for. Actually, it was better than anything she could really hope for if it allowed her a new chance at life.

"Alright, I accept your offer."

"Wonderful!"

He had smiled and opened his eyes at that last part and she quickly became terrified as he moved toward her and she quickly wanted to say she changed her mind as she began to feel the strange power gather around her but before she got the chance Xellos placed his hand between her breasts and pain like she had never know nor believed could even exist became a part of her. It felt like an eternity passed before she felt the pain relax and she was able to breath again. It was the most unimaginable experience and she had felt as the magic binding her to the Death Busters had been ripped from her very body and then new strands of a power unlike anything else she had ever know of were tried to her soul.

She laid there for what seemed like hours, gasping and wheezing, when she finally was able to open her eyes and sit up. She turned and looked at Xellos and then screamed at him.

"THAT HURT WORSE THAN ANYTHING ELSE I HAVE EVER OR COULD HAVE EVER FELT!"

"I know."

"Why didn't you tell me it was going to be like that?"

"It wouldn't have really helped now would it?"

She grumbled at bit under her breath about idiotic purple haired men but soon tried to stretched herself out and realized she was still tied up.

"Okay, what gives? Why am I still tied up?"

"A safety measure. I'm going to leave you like that for a few days as a precaution."

"What!?", she yelled at him.

She couldn't imagine being stuck tied up for a few days. Just what was he worried about. She was about to ask about it when he explained it.

"I want to make sure that my binding of your soul takes well and that you don't suddenly go nuts because of the ripping away of the Death Busters hold over you."

She considered it for several minutes and realized that it did make sense but she still didn't like it all.

"Can I at least have some clothes to ware?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"You're a lot cuter this way."

She fell over from the sheer shock of what he had just said and she couldn't believe that she had allowed some nutty pervert to bind himself to her soul. She soon realized the expression of mirth that was plastered on his face and realized that he had said that to get this reaction out of her.

"You did that on purpose."

"I suppose I did."

"Now tell me the real reason."

"The signs of things going bad are like ugly bruises that slowly spread out from the heart area. I want you to tell me right away if you notice anything while I'm not around."

"Wait! You're going to leave me tied up, naked, and alone somewhere. Are you crazy?"

"Relax you will be just fine. It will only take three days for us to be sure everything is all right and you can spend those three days focusing on the new power flowing inside of you and beginning to learn how to channel it."

That seemed rather reasonable to Eudial but she still hated the idea of being all alone, naked, and tied up at some random location. What would she do if the Sailor Senshi suddenly appeared. She was just about to ask when Xellos spoke up.

"Don't worry much about the Senshi and other such issues. I can feel your well being at all times and you just have to think of a thought directed at me and I will hear it. Also, I can teleport to your location instantly or teleport you to a new location instantly so you don't have anything to worry about. Plus we're family now."

"That makes me feel a lot better. Wait a minute! What do you mean by family?"

"Groups like the Death Busters are fools. They appeal to the depravity and hate inside of people and create a web of deceit and distrust inside their own ranks. When my master created me she made me like her son and I loved her greatly and because of that I always worked tirelessly towards our goals. Now you tell me which approach do you think would work the best. One where the members are a like a large family where everyone shares a strong bond or one where only fear of death keeps people in line?"

She considered what he had said and realized that it did make the most sense but she didn't really love him. She could tell from the bond to her soul that he would look after her but there wasn't any love.

"I see your point but I don't have any love for you."

"Not yet at least. It will change over time as it did with my master."

She didn't really know what to make of all of this but if anything Eudial had been a survivor even when her father had beaten her mother to death when she was a small child of only 10 years old and had begun to beat her to death as well she had hung onto life out of sheer will. However, the bond told her his words were true and it gave her hope that perhaps she might actually find what she had been wanting all of her life but believing that it would never be a part of her life.

"Ok. I will trust you on this for now but what am I now?"

"You are my first sorceress."

Xellos then proceeded to explain to her how she would be able to use various spells and incantations to call upon the energy that he would be providing her through the link. He also explained to her that as time went by she would be able to perform the magics without using the incantations but it would be impossible for her to ever hurt him because her power came directly from him. She accepted it as par for the course and didn't complain about it. He then expressed his hope that she would find ways of combining the magics and technology this world posses to create new and incredible things and she felt a smirk form on her face because that was a talent she already had in spades.

Next he told her about the various magical energies that should exist in the world and how two of them were currently missing from the world. He explained how he wanted her to research where the magical power of the Sailor Senshi came from and see what she would find out about related to the natural mana flows that were currently missing from the world. He explained how the demonic energies weren't a huge concern but if she ran across anything related to it to make sure to take notes about it as well.

It was finally around 11:00am the next morning when they had finished talking and planning when he walked over to her and teleported them to the front door of a random apartment. He banged on the door a few times and then teleported away and she had a surprised expression on her face when the door suddenly opened. She looked up at who had opened it and suddenly began cursing Xellos' name through their bond and she only felt laughter from the other end because it was none other than Usagi, Sailor Moon herself, who Xellos had dropped off a naked and tied up Eudial to take care of for a few days.

* * *

Usagi jumped at the loud banging she heard from the front door and look over at Setsuna who gave her a cautious expression. She moved towards the door as Setsuna became Sailor Pluto and then opened it. She at first didn't see anything but then she heard a few odd noises and looked down.

She let out a gasp and heard Pluto ask her what it was but she didn't answer as she stared at the bound, gagged, and very naked form of the redheaded Eudial. She had been gagged with a bright red bow, of all things, and it had a card attached to it.

"USAGI! WHAT IS IT?"

Pluto's yell finally dragged her out of her stupor and then she turned to Pluto and spoke.

"Nothing really bad but can you help me bring her inside?"

Pluto didn't know what Usagi meant by "her" until she came to the doorway and saw Eudial as well and Pluto arched an eyebrow wondering just what was going on. She bent over and picked up Eudial without any trouble, aided as she was by her Senshi powers, and dumped her on the couch.

Usagi had shut the door and followed along behind Pluto and once Eudial was on couch she reached out and removed the card from the bow and read it.

_Hello Usagi,  
__Please take care of Eudial for me while I attend to some other errands and matters for the moment. Ask her anything you want about the Death Busters and she will tell you the truth. Also, don't be too mean to her but give her a chance at redemption if you could._

_Your friend,  
__Xellos_

"I don't know Usagi. Xellos is a complete unknown and I don't like this one bit and why should we have to take care of her."

"Mmmph!"

Eudial tried to get Usagi's attention but the girl just walked over to another chair and sat down for the moment. She reached out across the bond she shared with Xellos.

_'What the hell is this?'_

_'Your first assignment.'_

_'What? Playing prisoner?'_

_'No. Gathering information. I want you to use your new senses that you have acquired to study their magic. Also, be careful around the green haired one as she is a time witch and her magic is very dangerous. We will have to do something about her soon but for now learn what you can.'_

Eudial thought about it and she had to admit it was wasn't a bad idea but she didn't know if they would actually keep her alive long enough to do what Xellos wanted of her.

_'How do you know they won't just kill me?'_

_'Usagi's nature is contrary to such actions. Also, I wouldn't let that happen to my new daughter anyways.'_

_'Whatever! So, what do you want me to tell them about you, me, and the Death Busters?'_

_'The truth. Tell them everything and if you get close to something I don't want you to speak about you will know because you won't be able to say the words. If that happens don't say anything or redirect things. I'm sure you can handle it. I have faith you.'_

_'Thanks.'_

Eudial drew her thoughts back to her current predicament and noticed that hardly any time had passed during the conversation with Xellos and she was mildly confused about that but would worry about it later. She looked at Pluto and while she appeared very cool and collected she recognized a murderous intent when she saw one as she had seen it in her father's eyes way too often. She made some noise through her gag again and this time she got Usagi's attention.

Usagi was drawn out of her thoughts by a noise coming from Eudial and looked at her. She had never really gotten a good look at her before now and she had to admit that Eudial was a rather pretty girl and tall like Pluto at about 5' 8" but she had a very toned frame. Eudial again made some more noises and Usagi relized that the girl wanted her to remove the strange gag. She got up and make her way over to Eudial and looked at the bow and then pulled it off with the sound a band-aid makes as one removes it.

"Ouch! Damn it! That really hurt."

"Sorry about that."

"Usagi why in the hell did you do that? I don't think we should help her at all."

"Relax Pluto. She is still tied up and I don't think she could be hiding any weapons. Don't you agree?"

"Not really. I feel something magical from those bonds of hers and they might just be for show and instead are actually a weapon in desiguise that is designed to lead us into a false sense of complacency which will allow her to attack us once our guard is down."

Eudial had to admit that Pluto's thoughts would have actually made a pretty good plan. Too bad she never thought of it.

"I think you are forgetting that I was captured during the last battle and I can't get out of these bindings. You are free to try and remove them from me yourselves but I doubt you will be able to remove them either."

Pluto looked at Eudial carefully and then brought forth the time key and reached down and grabbed one of the protrusions that formed the key shape in her staff and pulled it out revealing a small knife attached.

"What is that?", asked Usagi.

"It is a timeblade and it can cut through anything by separating the time flows binding an object together. If these bindings cannot be cut by this then I will believe she is really as helpless as she claims to be but if that isn't the case them I will use my power to kill her."

"Wait! You can't do that Pluto."

"Why not? She is part of the enemy and very dangerous since she knows your true identity and apparently this Xellos person even knows where you live. This is a most dire situation and I cannot let my guard down or let any harm come to you."

Usagi considered Pluto's words carefully and then spoke in her princess voice knowing that Pluto would listen to her.

"You cannot kill her. If this is a ruse then I will restrain her myself with the power of the Ginzuishou which I doubt she could ever escape from. Understood?"

Pluto nodded to Usagi informing her that she would follow her princess's instructions and then moved to Eudial's bound feet. She noticed that Eudial had gotten rather worried and smiled to herself as Eudial's reaction had strengthen her belief that this whole strange situation was nothing but a cleaver ruse. She found the bindings rather slippery but was able to separate out a strand and then tried to cut it with her timeblade but the binding wouldn't cut. She tried harder but still it wouldn't break. In a final attempt she poured all of her power into the blade willing it to cut the bindings but they held firm and at this point she found herself marveling at this strange material.

"Thank god!", spoke Eudial.

"What was that?", asked Pluto with an arched eyebrow.

"I'm really glad you were unable to cut them. I really didn't want to be accidentally killed."

Pluto didn't know how to respond to that because that was exactly what she had been planning on doing. She was going to ask Eudial a few other questions when Usagi spoke up.

"Don't worry. We won't harm you and will look after you just as Xellos asked. Can you tell me why he tied you up like this?"

Eudial explained that Xellos had riped away the Death Busters hold on her but she didn't tell them that he had made her give her entire being over to him in the process. She then explained that he tied her up like this as a precaution to make sure she didn't suddenly go nuts after what he did to remove the Death Busters hold on her. She also explained the signs that needed to be looked for that would signal issues with what Xellos had done to her. Based on what Usagi's face held she could tell that Usagi was rather happy for her and was willing to forgive her which surprised the heck out her. Pluto on the other hand wasn't happy at all and she could tell that she didn't believe any of it.

With at least Usagi willing to believe her she smiled inwardly that Xellos' idiotic plan might actually bear fruit. However, she decided that her "father" was really a fruitcake but she really hoped that as time went along he proved to be as good as she hoped he would be.

Pluto on the other hand spent the next several hours grilling her over every little detail related to the Death Busters and what they were doing. While she didn't know everything she knew quite a bit and Usagi's shock and reaction at learning that a being known as Mistress 9 had possessed a young girl who was really Sailor Saturn had surprised her as she found herself agreeing with Xellos opinion of the personality of the silly blond. Pluto on the other took everything she told them with a mountain of salt and pure incredulity was displayed on her face during the entire time.

"What do you think Pluto?", asked Usagi after Eudial had finished with her tail.

"I don't believe it at all. To think that they were able to do such things right under my nose is impossible to believe. I'm going to review some of what she said in the other room if that is alright with you?"

Usagi waved Pluto off and then looked at the very tired looking Eudial and asked a question she had to know the answer to.

"Do you want to be redeemed?"

Eudial stared at Usagi and was shocked by the question. She hadn't even considered something like that at all and had to think about it for a while but behind all the hate and grief that had filled her life she found that all she had ever really wanted was a place to belong. A place where love was offered instead of hate and pain and as she looked into Usagi's eyes she could see that offer being extended to her if she was willing to take it.

"Yes, I do."

"Wonderful. Let me get you blanket and you can go to sleep if that is alright with you."

"That would be great. Thank you Usagi.", she replied truly meaning every word she had just spoken. What a crazy set of days this had been for her but the future was actually starting to look better instead of being filled with ancient horrors from the great beyond.

It didn't take long for Eudial to fall into a deep sleep and Usagi had to admit that her latest enemy didn't seem nearly as terrifying and scary when she wasn't wielding a huge fire belching gun or wearing any clothes for that matter. She had to laugh at the sheer silliness of the whole thing. She would have never in a million years thought that she would have found a naked and tied up Eudial on her front porch this morning.

She opened the door to Pluto's room and walked up behind her. Pluto was currently watching events transpire in the garnet orb and was currently totally focused on her task. She reached out and touched Pluto's shoulder to get her attention. Pluto jumped a tad bit and then let out a sigh of pure frustration.

"So the sigh means that she told us the truth."

"I'm so mad and annoyed at myself right now princess. I should have spotted this long ago and I don't understand how I could have missed it. The fact that Saturn is being possessed by an evil entity sworn to bring about the destruction of the world really scares me. I had seen some of what was possible but these events were chances out of a billion and were never even looked into by me. I had thought that Saturn was going to destroy the world in response to what these idiots were trying to summon. I never believed that Saturn herself has been compromised since the chances of it happening were so small it was all but impossible. Such problems like this in the timesteam just shouldn't ever happen."

"It's alright Setsuna. I have faith in our abilities so don't worry about this too much. Also, I think Xellos might not be what you originally suspect but don't worry as I still believe we need to be cautious. I think the thing we need to do next is somehow fix my problems with the other Senshi."

Pluto nodded her head to indicate her agreement but she still had severe reservations about Xellos.

* * *

Xellos walked along the streets, pausing ever now and then to examine the fresh repairs of the various buildings and walls, towards where the chaos seemed to be concentrated after just having finished his mental conversation with Eudial. He knew she would be fine and could tell right off the bat that given a chance she would turn into a wonderful person to have on his side. All she really needed was the type of chance that he had received from Zelas.

He continued walking on and truthfully he was really surprised by the huge amount of chaos he felt in the area and in all his time only one other person he had ever known was a much of a chaos nexus, Lina Inverse, and at times he rather missed the troublesome sorceress. He was really curious just what form this new chaos nexus would be contained in and if it turned out to be a person Xellos was determined to have them working for him even if they didn't know that they were. He had much to accomplish and getting as much help as possible was one of his first goals, of course by help he really meant more along the lines of servants since finding people like Eudial was going to be hard but such details weren't really important to his goals.

Xellos stopped in front a large wooden gate and carefully studied the writing on the large wooden sign above the gate and mentally added learning to read and write on his list of things to do. While he could speak any language to another person he actually had to learn their writing system himself but he would just extract that information out of another person later and imprint the information onto his mind so it would only take a little bit of time and he didn't want to do that Eudial at the moment since it tended to cause odd reactions for a day or two and it would mess up his plans.

He stopped thinking about such things and opened up the gate and it opened with a loud groan and he smiled as he walked into the compound. The gate had opened to reveal a nice stone pathway surrounded by a luch yard but he noticed various areas in the landscaping that appeared to have been reworked recently. The stone pathway led to a building that had a very traditional feeling to it and it appeared to use more natural materials than most of the other structures he had seen on his way here.

He walked along the path but soon his ears picked out the sound some people yelling at each other coming from the side to his left so he altered his course and headed that way instead of to the front door at the other end of the stone pathway. Soon a nice size pond and more of the lush landscaping greeted his eyes but that wasn't what had drawn his attention. A young boy of about 17 years old who was wearing a red silk shirt with buttons running down the front and a pair of draw-string silk black pants was busy yelling and fighting with an older man, slightly over weight, of about 41 who wore a slightly dirty gi and a pair of round wire rimmed glassed on this face. He appeared bald but he was wearing an old white bandanna to cover his head so Xellos couldn't really be sure. They were busily exchanging all manner of kicks and punches all the while bouncing back and forth over the pond. All in all it was a rather impressive sight and Xellos found the grace and precision they both held to be quite good but not nearly as good as some of the other fighters he known in the past but what was more important was that he now knew the identify of the chaos nexus. Xellos smiled wide to himself and was rather happy with the results of his search.

As he continued on around the side of the house he came to a sliding door and saw an young woman of about 20 standing there watching the two combatants. She was wearing a full length dress and had an apron covering the front it and she had her long brown hair in a ponytail which she wore over her shoulder on her right hand side. He could tell she had a very mild personality and was a strong care giver but something was a tad off with her but he wasn't sure what it was at the moment. He could feel a thread tied to her leading off to another person but he wasn't sure what to make of the connection just yet. He decided to go ahead and introduce himself and start to learn about his new employees.

"Hello there. My name is Xellos, the trickster priest."

"Oh my! I'm sorry I didn't notice you."

Xellos walked up to stand next to her so that he could continue to watch the fighting.

"Quite all right. I heard the noises coming from this side of the house and thought it would be prudent to head over here to see what the commotion was."

"That is fine Xellos-san. Would you like some tea?"

"That would be nice if it isn't too much trouble for you."

"No, not at all. Just wait here and I will be back."

As she left to make the tea he sat down and watched the two as they continued to fight. He could tell that the young boy was slightly holding back and the older man was also hiding some hidden skills as well. To him it appeared that they were trying to enjoy the fight as much as possible and wanted to drag it out as long as they could even though they were trading insults back and forth with each other. He was a tad confused by the words "panda" and "girl" that were bantered back and forth so much but he would figure it all out in due time.

"Here is your tea Xellos-san."

"Thank you but it is just Xellos. Also, I'm seem to have missed getting your name."

The girl blushed a bit and then answered him in a very demure voice.

"I'm so sorry, my name is Kasumi Tendo."

Xellos smiled at the girl and she seemed to blush even more. Rather interesting.

"So who are the two fighters?"

"Oh. The young one is Ranma Saotome and the other is his father Genma Saotome. They are practicing for a challenge that Ranma just receive the other day."

"Rather impressive. How long do they usually go on like this?"

Kasumi looked back at the fighters and studied them for just a minute with a very experienced eye and then answered him.

"They are going to finish up in just a second or two."

Xellos turned back and just as Kasumi said the fight ended with Genma using some of his hidden skill to grab Ranma's leg and flip him over and into the pond. As soon as the boy hit the pond Xellos fully opened his eyes and took in what he saw. Nightmare magic was laced into the very soul of the young boy and it was activated by the water and instead of a boy a young girl with red hair, a very round face, full lips, and quite the large bust came bubbling back up to the surface. However, she was a tad short and he figured she was most likely about 4' 10" instead of the 5' 7" the boy had been. Xellos turned his eyes onto the father and also saw the pieces of the nightmare magic yearning to be released and calling to the water. However, as the new shape took place upon the now young woman he saw that the magic again receded back into its hiding place but was now calling out to another type of water. Xellos closed his eyes again and planned on having a nice chat with those two soon. He wasn't expecting to find such magic so soon and there was much about this world that didn't make any sense. While these two were most certainly not in charge of the magic that was a part of them perhaps they would be able to offer him some information that could start to explain why all of the natural mana flows in this world were missing not to mention the fact that he couldn't feel any traces of Mazoku magic in the air.

"What did you do that for you stupid panda?", yelled Ranma at Genma as she pulled herself out of the pond.

"Ranma you sound like a girl! Do you honestly think Sally and her father are going to let you off the hook? No! Of course not! You have to be able to expect anything and everything to win this challenge!"

"Yea, and who's stupid ass fault is that. I didn't go promising to get married to anyone over a magical box that can grant wishes now did I? It's always you and why in the hell do I have to keep on cleaning up your messes!"

Xellos took another sip of his tea and decided that he really liked the blend that Kasumi had put together. He was about to ask a few questions when a strange and unnatural smell began to waft out from the kitchen. The smell was soon followed by a thick miasma and a glance at Kasumi's teary eyed face told him that she knew what was causing it and was very much unhappy about it. He was again about to ask her about it when a new person came from the kitchen. She also appeared 17 and had short blue hair but had an almost feral look in her eyes. Xellos didn't like her at all as he knew her type all too well but teasing her would prove to be a ton of fun and the amount of anger she held would provide for some amazing meals for him. As she got closer he noticed that she was covered in all manner of grease and grim and suspected that that the apron she was wearing would never be usable again and the smell coming off of her was clearly having an effect on Kasumi as she was turning a nasty shade of green.

Ranma had entered the house and hadn't noticed what was going on until the new girl stood in front of her neatly blocking her path to any exit. Xellos could tell by Ranma's panicked face that she wished she had noticed the new girl before hand and the fear and terror rolling off the boy turned girl was quite enjoyable but Xellos was very curious of the reason why she had become so terrified. It definitely wasn't the girl herself as he could tell that her abilities were far lacking when compared to that of the young fighter. He was about to inquire of Kasumi just what was going on when the new girl spoke.

"Ranma I have a wonderful surprise for you! I cooked you a very special lunch to help prepare you for tomorrow's challenge."

Ranma began to sweat profusely and was soon looking everywhere for an exit but every time she seemed like she was about to walk away the new girl would adjust her position to keep Ranma in the room.

"Uh...Akane. Actually, I'm not hungry at all and uh...this special training with my pops requires me to uh...not eat anything. So, um, I really appreciate it but can we save it for later."

The new girl, Akane apparently, seemed to be considering this when Genma came inside and yelled out.

"Ranma make sure you eat a big lunch as you are going to need it for the afternoon I have planned."

Ranma hung her head in total defeat while Akane had developed a slight tick on her left eyebrow.

"Are you trying to avoid my cooking, Ranma?"

"Um yes. I mean NO! No, not at all."

Akane began to glow with a faint red aura and Xellos was totally surprised by the massive amounts of anger present inside Akane. He quickly adjusted his mental notes about her and enjoyed all the extra energy she was pouring out. He could tell she was about to start screaming when Genma spoke up again.

"So Kasumi, what's for lunch?"

Akane turned towards Genma all the while keeping herself between Ranma and any possible exits and spoke in a very tight voice.

"Actually uncle Saotome I cooked us all lunch. I will bring it right out for us. Oh and it appears we have a guest. Who is this Kasumi?"

"His name is Xellos."

"Oh. Will you be joining us for lunch them?"

"Sure."

"Great! Just wait here and I will bring it all out."

Akane had only taken two steps when Genma began to run but Ranma tackled him and whispered to him.

"If I got to suffer through this hell then so do you. I had almost saved all of us when you opened your big stupid ass mouth."

"Come on boy! You need to respect your elders so just let me get out of here and you can enjoy your finance's cooking."

"No way pops!"

They began to wrestle but soon they both heard the voice neither one wanted to hear.

"Alright! Lets all gather round while I set this up."

After a few more minutes whereby another man was rounded up from inside the house, named Soun Tendo, Akane and Kasumi's father apparently. He was a tall man at just about 6' 1" and had a dark complexition and long black hair and a well groomed mustache but Xellos could tell that the man was actually an emotional train wreck waiting to happen. Something had apparently happened in the man's past and it had left him off balance ever since then. He too panicked once he learned that Akane had made them all lunch and Xellos had to admit something with Akane's cooking was very wrong if everyone believed they were about to tortured to death. Perhaps he should take some samples of it to use on the more uncooperative people he ran into.

Ranma had changed back into a boy with a kettle of hot water provided by Kasumi but his mood was so sour that he barely even gave Kasumi any thanks. Xellos had carefully watched the change again and now knew the triggers and issues behind the magic and suspected that the boy had to be a water magnet of all types. The magic feed on the release that the water created for it and it appeared to take some of natural energy flows of the world during each change but what it did with those energies Xellos currently had no idea. All in all it was truly very interesting but he was drawn out of his thoughts as Akane placed a bowl in front of him.

Xellos eyed the "food" closely. A thick green miasma carried away from the food and it smelled like something that would come from the the sewer systems of a public outhouse. Then there was the bubbling and slight hissing sound that was coming from each large bowl which held a greenish liquid with brown and black spots which seemed to swirl around in a strange pattern. Xellos was rather surprised and he found it hard to believe that humans had decided to eat like lower demons these days. However, a quick look at the others around the table and he could see that none of them wanted to eat this food. Kasumi was barely holding herself together from breaking down in tears while Ranma and Genma were white from terror at the bowls placed before them and Soun was currently crying all the while asking the world why his daughter continued to try and poison him to death.

"Uh, Akane, what exactly is this?", asked Ranma.

"It's vegetable soup. Can't you tell that?!"

Ranma swallowed hard and carefully lifted his spoon and dipped it into the bowl. The liquid reacted quickly and Ranma had to quickly let go of the spoon as it quickly rusted and decayed and disappeared into the bowl.

Xellos had watched it all and then it "clicked" into place. He turned and looked at Akane very carefully and was able to see the line that was connected to Kasumi was connected to her but it wasn't a simple connection. No, this connection was that of a curse and it appeared that Kasumi had cursed her sister at some point. Xellos pulled off one of his gloves and dipped his finger into the mixture and then slowly lifted it to his mouth and tasted it while everyone else, except Akane, watched him in mounting horror. Ranma was the first to speak.

"Woah, you alright there?"

At Xellos' nod the boy continued, "So how does it taste?"

"Not bad really."

Ranma couldn't believe what he had just heard. Their guest had not only dipped his finger in it after having seen what happened to Ranma's spoon but he tasted it as well. Then he even said it wasn't that bad and continued to sit there without any problems. Ranma could tell that Akane was growing increasing angry at him and with Xellos claiming it wasn't bad he really had no choice but to go ahead and try it. He grabbed a wooden spoon and then dipped it into the mix and slowly lifted it to his lips and slurped the substance.

Everything went black and his world exploded into a white noise of pure pain. He had never experienced anything quite like it in his entire life and after an agonizing eternity that ripped at the very core of soul the comforting blackness of unconsciousness enveloped him.

As Ranma slumped over to the floor after having let loose a scream that would no doubt be leaving everyone present, except Xellos, with nightmares for weeks they all turned their attention toward him with an expectant look toward him.

"Oh sorry about that. I should have said it wasn't bad for lower level demon food. Not really something a human should consume."

"WHAT!", Akane screamed at this Xellos. Sure Ranma's scream was bad but to claim that her cooking was from the very depths of hell was horrible. She didn't care who this person was or why he might be here but she wasn't going to let some jackass say that about her cooking. Of course, she wasn't going to try it herself after seeing what happened to Ranma but it couldn't really be that bad.

"Why wouldn't that surprise anyone with the curse that has been placed upon you, Akane was it?", Xellos asked everyone present in a very serious tone.

Akane quickly deflated and felt shocked. A curse! She couldn't believe it but it suddenly made so much sense. No matter how hard she tried or what she did everyone hated what ever she tried to cook. Ever since middle school she had been not only exempted, but barred from taking any and all home economics courses in school. She felt the tears began to fall from her eyes and she looked over at the new comer.

"Do you know who cursed me or how I can get rid of it?"

"Yes."

Akane sat there waiting for an answer from him but he just sat there and continued to sip at his tea. Akane was about to yell at him when a blood curdling scream erupted from Ranma. His eyes opened and everyone looked at him in horror as his eyes were solid black and he began to glow with a pure black aura that swirled in an unnatural way. He quickly jumped onto the table and with a single jump he literally flew to the top of the fence and sped off. Everyone, except for Xellos who continued to sip his tea, sat there with their mouths hanging open and it was Xellos who broke the silence.

"I would go catch him if I were you. A minor demonic possession like that could be rather troublesome if he happens to accidentally kill anyone or rape some young virgins."

Akane quickly began to glow with a blue light and screamed out, "**THAT PERVERT!**" before quickly running after him. Genma seemed to think about it for a few minutes before grabbing Soun and giving chase as well.

Kasumi just hung her head in hands and then Xellos spoke to her.

"So, why did you curse your sister?"

Kasumi sat up straight as a nail and looked at their very odd guest.

"What!?"

Xellos opened his eyes and looked at her directly and Kasumi shivered and felt rather terrified to be looking into those purple eyes and she finally sighed and answered his question.

"I didn't mean to but when were younger she was always such a spoiled child and this one time she make a horrific mess in the kitchen and ruined the special cake I had worked several days on for my mother's birthday. I was more angry that I have ever been and I screamed something at her that came naturally but never again was she able to produce anything even remotely close to human food when she tried to cook and even my mother couldn't be tactful over her creations. I didn't mean for it to happen but it just did."

Xellos closed his eyes and considered it. While she had told him the truth it surprised him that she was able to cast such an effective but low level curse onto another person. Especially, since the only way to do that would be to draw from the darker energies like demonic magics or use an energy that could be used for anything like Mazoku magics. It was rather impressive since there were no natural mana flows in the world right now.

A new girl came into the area. This one was currently wearing a light blue dress that came down to her knees and she had short brown hair in a helmut cut that loosely framed her face. Her eyes were very sharp and Xellos could tell there was a supieror intelligence behind them but right now she seemed a tad surprised and worried and as she spoke to them it was possible to just barely make out a little bit of fear in her voice.

"Kasumi I just saw Ranma running down the road looking like some half crazy demonic cat. What the heck happened?"

"Akane cooked lunch?"

The new girl's face paled and she ran upstairs but Xellos had liked the intelligence he saw in her. Staying here was a great idea for the next few days as he had his eyes set on a few of them. A few he even planned to bring into his family while others would be given the ability to call on his powers. He couldn't keep the smile from his face because things were starting to come together quickly for a nice base of operations for him. This world was going to change incredibly as he worked towards his goal.

**

* * *

Notes:** Okay here is my next chapter on this story. I hope some of you other there find it interesting. Sorry it took so long to get over to the Ranma side of things. Please leave a review and let me know if you like this story.


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